Categories

terms

Spike To The Rescue

Last gasp, desperation marketing is a fascinating subject. In a corporate equivalent of your life passing before your eyes, dying companies flash through a disparate range of campaigns before fading to black.

Bankrupt Kmart has been going through a slow motion version of such a seizure for the past 10 years. The discounter, which has marked down its brand identity to zero, has recruited director and urban marketing specialist Spike Lee to spike up sales with what's described as a "cozy" image campaign.

Doesn't make much sense but on the surface neither does stylish Martha Stewart's affiliation with Kmart. Or Rosie O'Donnell's pretending, along with Penny Marshall, to be typical Kmart shoppers.
The effort is tagged with a trendy "stuff" line--"The stuff of life," Not one for the ages, but rather a line that'll hopefully carry them to the next quarter.

Will Spike's magic convince consumers to "do the right thing" and shop Kmart? Or will they tell the retailer to stuff it? Probably the later, but I do hope they have enough money left for a David Lynch campaign